ISSUE 3 · FALL 2009
Copyright © 2009 Kristine Ong Muslim | Resurrection of a Doll from a Pop-up Book KRISTINE ONG MUSLIM
I rescue her as a paper doll from a pop-up book. Her dollhouse stands flat underneath her feet. Her hair is tied in a bun. She wants me to let down her golden hair, etc. She has a penchant for the dramatic, the borrowed lines from fairy tales. Disease has clustered on her folds of cardboard skin. For days, I keep the book closed, give her time to fantasize about widths and fuller curves. I know this resurrected girl will be different from the rest. She will be ungainly. She will make me proud. |
Kristine Ong Muslim’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in more than three hundred publications worldwide, including Issue 5 of A cappella Zoo, Aberrant Dreams, Farrago’s Wainscot, GUD Magazine, Kaleidotrope, Labyrinth Inhabitant Magazine, Sounds of the Night, and Tales of the Talisman. She has been nominated five times for the Pushcart Prize and four for the Science Fiction Poetry Association's Rhysling Award. Her publication credits are listed here.